The Art of Wood-burning

Milwaukee native Vince Gallo grew up on the East Side, where he graduated from Shorewood High School.Now
semi-retired and recuperating from surgery, this self-taught artist
focuses on what has been his hobby for 25 years: wood-burning. Gallo
says he envisions teaching wood-burning at an educational center,
especially to youth, so that others might discover the enjoyment of
this unusual art medium.

How did you discover wood-burning? A
friend of mine at the time practiced wood-burning and I asked to learn
from him. After a while he said I went beyond what he knew, and I just
kept going and taught myself. I’ve been wood-burning now for over 25
years and I know there are not too many people working in this art form
anymore.

What do you most enjoy about it? Wood-burning
is so relaxing to sit and do, and you need very little space, and it is
relatively inexpensive. You just need the woodand a set of tools called Detail Master… I have the Excalibur model that has dual wood-burning pens.

How do you do it? I
find or take a picture I like and enjoy and white-out all the black
space, and then I run it through a copier. Using a special tool with a
rounded end, I rub the picture, which is the lines, onto the piece of
wood. Afterward I begin burning the wood on the many lines, often over
and over, to create special details. Burning the details requires about
12 to 14 hours for a small picture. And I once was asked to do
wood-burning on a friend’s table for his lake cottage, which worked
out well.

What type of wood is best to use? The
best kind of wood is pine, but bass wood has a very tight grain that is
good to work on. This wood is good for when you first begin to
practice, as it doesn’t stop your tool, your pen, from moving on the
wood.

What would you say to persuade some one to try wood-burning? The
art of wood-burning is really very relaxing, and when a picture catches
my eye, I’m able to do something different with it—change it. You can
experiment with the art and use your creativity. And for me, I am more
interested in teaching people this art medium to leave the legacy
behind.

My mane is Gary Dellenbach & I have been wood buning a long time I started in 1968 & still do it on & off I have some of my art in Sweden,England ,Ohio, Wausau Wi & etc . All my work is by word of mouth ,I have done about 6 or 7 leather & wood burning for guys at work. I( did teach the art at hte old Mickles on 27th street & at St Jhon's school on s84th street Greenfield.I take pic of all my work & I ask the people to take pic for me .I would like to send Peggy Sue Dunigan some of my work but I* do not have her email adds. When my kids (7of then ) were going to school I did a plaque for the class about 30 at a time 7 I know that some of the kids still have them. I guest would like to tell you Peggy that the people are out there sone of my best were on leather I also got one of my brother into it & he loves doing it too.Please let me know Peggy how I can get you to lo0ok at some of my work. Thank you for taking the time to read this Yours Truely
Gary L. Dellenbach
dellenbaclee@sbcglobal.net
Greenfield Wi

I have been looking for someone who specializes in this area do do my grandfathers desk for me. Believe it or not, it's very hard to find anyone who knows anything about wood burning, and then to find someone willing to even take on the project. That's a huge shame as this form of art is beyond beautiful.

Hi, my name is Chris Ellis from Australia and I am 21 years old. I was given a wood burning pen from my grandfather who used to use it many many years ago and I now too love this form of art .Just stumbled across your article and found it quite inspiring as I too am into wood burning and wood art. Just thought it was a good article and wanted to let you know that although there probably isnt many young people into the art, there are some out there. Thanks Vince,
Chris

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